Locking device



Aug. 13, 1957 J. H. REID LOCKING DEVICE Filed Sept. 26, 1955 Y INVENTOR.

JAMES H. REID W7 .33 w ATTORNEYS United States Patent t LOCKING DEVICE James H. Reid, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Reid Engineering Company, Les Angeles, Calif., 21 partnership Application September 26, 1955, Serial No. 536,565

9 Claims. (Cl. 74--531) This invention relates to a new and improved irreversible locking control and comprises an improvement over Patent No. 2,703,499 issued March 8, 1955. The present invention incorporates many of the advantages and features of the aforesaid Patent No. 2,703,499, but in addition has additional features as hereinafter more particularly set forth.

Among the advantages of the present invention are its simplicity and inexpensive construction which are occasioned by certain structural features described hereinafter.

Another feature of the invention is the facility of manufacture and assembly of the device as compared with prior structures and this increases the adaptability of the device for mass production.

Still another advantage of the invention is the fact that the space occupied is reduced, facilitating installation in confined quarters.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly broken away in section to reveal portions of the device;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially along the line 2-2.of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 1; N

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the structure; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of certain parts of the locking mechanism.

The mechanism hereinafter described is mounted on a frame 11 which, in side elevation, is of substantially truncated sector shape, the center of the frame being cut away in apertures 12 to reduce weight and to afford access to the interior parts. The frame is mounted by means of pins 13 at each of four locations to a stationary support (not shown). One of the features of the present invention is the fact that a plurality of controls may be mounted parallel in a bank and accordingly the pins 13 may be used to connect the frame 11 to identical adjacent frames. Frame 11 consists of parallel front and back members 14 and 16 which are substantially identical in construction. Inwardly facing edge portions 17 are provided to connect the front and back together with a gap 18 between the edge portions through which projects the control handle 19 as hereinafter set forth.

Extending between the front and back frame members 14 and 16 is main pivot pin 21 which is located on the center line of the device and is journaled in cross members 22 at the bottom of the frame. Both the control handle 19 and the driven lever 23 are pivoted about main pivot pin 21 as a center.

The control handle 19 has a knob 24 at the top from which depend front and back stems 24 and 26 through gap 18. Below gap 18 stems 24 and 26 are bifurcated and separated to provide ample space to mount the lock mechanism hereinafter described. A sleeve consisting of two parts 27 and 28 extending inward from opposite faces of the frame fit over main pivot pin 21 and are, in turn, received in holes 29 in the lower ends of the bifurcations of the control handle 19. The side edges 31 of at least one of the stems 24 or 26 of the control handle 19 are turned inwardly to provide a mounting for control set screws 32 as hereinafter described.

The driven lever 23 is a lever of the first class which is pivoted about the pivot pin 21. Lever 23 is formed with a hole 33 through which sleeve 27-28 projects. The lower end of driven lever 23 is connected to the bifurcated end 34 of a control 36 which may be a throttle control or other driven member. An adjustable loose connection between the control handle 19 and driven lever 23 is provided by means of pin 37 which extends between the stems 24 and 26 and passes through an enlarged hole 38 in driven lever 23. Set screws 39 threaded into the side edges of driven lever 23 project into the enlarged holes 38 and are arranged to contact pin.37 and move the same when control handle 19 is moved. Within the limits of the adjustment of set. screws 39 hereinafter described, a locking mechanism is provided to prevent reversal of the .movement.i. e., movement of the driven lever 23 is not transmitted to the control handle 19.

The latching mechanismis mounted on a quadrant shaped bar 41 concentric wit-h pivot pin 21 and attached to the frame 11 by means of pins 42 at its opposite ends. An elongated slot 43 is formed in the upper end of driven lever 23 in which is positioned a journal sleeve 44 having flattened sides 46 fitting against the edges of slot 43 so that sleeve 44 may slide relative to lever 23 to maintain concentricity between quadrant bar 41 and the locking mechanism even with extreme load conditions. Journal sleeve 44 receives. lock pivot pin 47 which is secured by means of split retaining rings 48.

. Inner and outer shoe assembles 51 and 52 are pivoted about pin 47. Each shoe assembly comprises parallel plates 53 formed with apertures 54 at their lower ends for the lock pivot pin 47. The upper end of each assembly comprises a spacer 56 which is welded to the plates 53. The spacer 56A for inner assembly 51 is narrower than the spacer 563 for the outer assembly, the width of the outer spacer 56B being sufficient to permit movement of the inner spacer between the plates of the outer spacer. Spacers 56 are formed with inwardly facing recesses 57 in which is received a helical spring 58 which biases the inner and outer show assemblies apart with lock pivot pin 47 as a center.

Four hardened shoe pins are provided, two shoe pins 61 and 62 in the inner shoe assembly 51 and two shoe pins 63 and 64 in the outer shoe assembly 52. The pair of pins of each shoe assembly are on opposite side edges of the quadrant bar 41 and are also on opposite sides of a center line drawn from the lock pivot pin 47 normal to the quadrant bar, thereby being located in diagonally opposite positions. Each pivot pin 6164 is cylindrical and is ground with an arcuate gripping surface 66. The outer pins 61 and 63 have a gripping surface 66A with a curvature equal to the curvature of the upper edge of the quadrant bar 41, whereas the lower pins '62 and 64 are ground with a gripping surface 663 of a curvature equal to that of the lower edge of the quadrant bar. Enlarged holes 67 are formed in the plates 53 of the inner shoe assembly 51 to permit passage of pin 64 without interference. It will be observed that except for holes 67, each of the plates 53 is substantially identical, each having a laterally extending projection 68 to receive the lower pins 62 and 64. Such construction facilitates manufacture and assembly of the device and simplifies the construotion.

The function of spring 58 is to bias the inner and outer shoe assemblies apart and this results in frictional engagement of the gripping surfaces 66 of the pins 6164 with the edges of quadrant bar 41. To unlock the device, set screws 32 on the inwardly projecting edges of control handle 19 bear against the spacers 56. Thus as the control handle 19 is moved in either direction about pivot pin 47 as a center, set screw 32 contacts inner and outer shoe assemblies 51 and 52 and causes the shoe pins 6164 to disengage from the quadrant bar 41 and permit movement. After the shoes are unlocked, set screws 39 contact pin 37 to move driven lever 23, the set screws 32 and 39 being so adjusted that the sleeve pins 61-64 are first unlocked. When force is transmitted from the driven lever 23, no unlocking is accomplished, and hence the control lever 19 is not moved. Accordingly the control herein described is irreversible.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a locking control apparatus, a bar, a structure movable on said bar, means for always looking said structure against forces tending to move it acting from one side of the bar, said means also automatically releasing said structure for movement from forces on the other side of the bar, said means including a pair of pivoted locking elements slidably positioned on the bar in gripping relationship therewith and wherein each of said locking elements contacts the bar on both its'upper and lower surfaces and wherein the uppermost contacting portion of one locking element is opposite the lowermost contacting portion of the other element and vice versa, one of said locking elements being slidable partially within the other of said locking elements, said locking members being in sliding bearing engagement with each other in at least two opposed directions to maintain said locking elements constantly positioned for parallel locking and unlocking movement.

2. In a locking control apparatus, a bar, a structure movable on said bar, means for always locking said structure against forces tendingto move it acting from one side of the bar, said means also automatically releasing said structure for movement from forces on the other side of the bar, said means including a pair of pivoted locking elements slidably positioned on the bar in gripping relationship therewith and wherein each of said locking elements contacts the bar on both its upper and lower surfaces and wherein the uppermost contacting portion of one locking element is opposite the lowermost contacting portion of the other elements and vice versa, one of said elements being bifurcated, the other of said element being disposed at least partially within the bifurcations of said first named element, said locking members being in sliding bearing engagement with each other in at least two opposed directions to maintain said locking elements constantly positioned for parallel locking and unlocking movement.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein are provided a pair of pins in each of said locking elements, one pin of each pair contacting said bar on one side of said bar for the locking engagement with said bar and the other of said pins contacting said bar on the other side of said bar for the locking engagement with said bar.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein are provided a pair of pins in each of said locking elements, one pin of each pair contacting said bar on one side of said bar and the other of saidpins contacting said bar on the other side of said bar, each of said pins being cut away along one of its cylindrical surfaces, the cut-away portion of said pin being parallel to said bar, said cut-away portions contacting said bar for the locking engagement therewith.

5. A locking control apparatus comprising a bar, means mounting said bar, a structure movable relative to said bar, and locking means for locking said structure against forces acting from one side of said bar tending to move said structure, said locking means releasing said structure for movement by forces acting from the other side of said bar, said locking means comprising a pair of locking members slidably positioned on said bar in gripping relationship therewith and wherein each of the locking members contacts said bar on opposite surfaces thereof, and wherein the contacting surfaces of the respective lock- H ing members are diagonally oppositely disposed from one another, said locking members being positioned to at least partially overlap one another, the contacting surface of one said locking member being in a directly opposite position relative to said bar from the opposite contacting surface of the other locking member, one of said members being bifurcated adjacent the zone in which said members overlap and the other of said locking members fitted within the bifurcated portion of said first mentioned member, and a pin pinning said locking members together through their overlapping portions, said pin connecting said locking members to said structure.

6. A locking control apparatus comprising a bar, means mounting said bar, a structure movable relative to said bar, and locking means for locking said structure against forces acting from one side of said bar tending to move said structure, said locking means releasing said structure for movement by forces acting from the other side of said bar, said locking means comprising a pair of locking members slidably positioned on said bar in gripping relationship therewith and wherein each of the locking members contacts said bar on opposite surfaces thereof, and wherein the contacting surfaces of the respective locking members are diagonally oppositely disposed from one another, said locking members being positioned to at least partially overlap one another, the contacting surface of one said locking member being in a directly opposite position relative to said bar from the opposite contacting surface of the other locking member, each said locking member comprising a pair of parallel plates and a spacer between said plates holding the same apart in parallel. relationship, the spacer of one of said members being wider than that of the other said member and one of said members fitting partially between the parallel plates of the other said member and being in bearing engagement therewith in opposed directions normal to said parallel plates.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein each of said locking members is provided with a pair of pins which comprise the contacting surfaces contacting said bar.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein each of said locking members is provided with a pair of pins which comprise contacting surfaces contacting said bar, and wherein at least one pin of the wider of said locking members passes through a hole in the narrower of said locking members, said hole being of greater diameter than said pin.

9. A locking control apparatus comprising a bar, means mounting said bar, a structure movable relative to said bar, and locking means for locking said structure against forces acting from one side of said bar tending to move said structure, said locking means releasing said structure for movement by forces acting from the other side of said bar, said locking means comprising a pair of locking members slidably positioned on said bar in gripping relationship therewith and wherein each of the locking members contacts said bar on opposite surfaces thereof, and wherein the contacting surfaces of the respective locking members are diagonally oppositely disposed from one another, said locking members being positioned to at least partially overlap one another, the contacting surface ofsilient means biasing said locking members apart, said resilient means contacting said spacers.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Richards Aug. 2, 1904 McCarthy Feb. 6, 1940 Reid Mar. 8, 1955 

